Pepper Temper
by MaidenMoonshine
Summary: Never take a ninja's chicken and peppers! Tony steals Ziva's lunch. Obviously, she needs to get revenge. Based on a prompt by Hippiechic81.


**Hi, everyone! It's time for another one-shot based on a prompt by a reader. Today I am working off of an idea from Hippiechic81. **

**_Hippiechic81 - What about Ziva's dinner party that Tony wasnt invited to? Why wasn't he invited?_**

**I had an idea, combined it with this prompt, and ****_presto!_**** "Pepper Temper" - and fun! This is near the beginning of Ziva's arrival at NCIS. All you TIVA lovers, I hope that this will be ful-"filling"! Now that I got that pun out of my system, enjoy! **

...

Ziva smiled. Tim was back with the food and she was hungry.

"What did you get, Probie?" Tony asked, jumping up.

"Mexican. So good!" Tim mumbled around his tortilla. He set the styrofoam containers down on his desk. "Help yourselves. I'm going to the vending machine to get a drink."

"That smells good," Tony announced, reaching for a container.

"Wait! That one has my name!" Ziva protested.

"Oh, does it?" Tony said teasingly. "What did you order?"

"Fried peppers and chicken. Now give it back!"

Tim popped her container open and sniffed. "Mhmm. That does smell good."

"Give my peppers to me before I hurt you!" Ziva demanded.

"Uh uh uh! It's not nice to threaten co-workers!" Tony scolded teasingly, holding the peppers away from her. Ziva lunged toward him, but he jumped behind his desk with an annoying laugh. Ziva hit her knee as she reached for her food carton.

"Ouch!" she shouted, her annoyance boiling into anger. "You ...! I am going to ...!"

"Calm down," Gibbs ordered, striding toward his desk.

"He took my lunch!" Ziva shouted, rationalizing her actions. The stern glare made her lower her voice as she repeated, "Gibbs, he stole _my_ ..."

"Tony, stop eating Ziva's lunch."

"What?!" Ziva shrieked, turning to see Tony take another bite of her much-anticipated meal. Gibbs or not, she was going to get her lunch! Tony seemed to come to the same realization, because as she rushed toward him he jumped up and back from her desk and ...

SPLAT!

"Oops!"

"TONY!" Ziva yelled, infuriated. There were her peppers and chicken, spread across the floor. She raised her hand and ...

SMACK!

Tony yelped, rubbing the back of his head.

"Let go!" Ziva jerked at her hand, caught in a tight grip by Gibbs' non-head-smacking hand. She felt her new boss swing her around to face him.

"Do NOT talk to me like that, young lady."

"But he...!"

"Clean up, Tony, then head to the car. We've got a body," Gibbs replied, still maintaining eye contact with Ziva.

"Yes, Boss," Tony replied, backing away as he sensed the salvation Gibbs was offering from Ziva's rage.

"Now," Gibbs said, giving Ziva his full focus as he led her to the side, "I smacked him. You are to leave him alone. Understood?"

"But he ...!"

"He'll pay for your lunch for the rest of the week - right, Tony?"

"Yes, Boss," Tony muttered reluctantly at the glare from Gibbs.

Gibbs smirked at the small, victorious smile on Ziva's face.

"Grab your gear, Ziva. Tony, meet us in the car within three minutes."

...

Unfortunately, the promise of a free lunch tomorrow did not ease Ziva's current hunger. And Tony, chattering away about how delicious her chicken and peppers had been, did nothing to calm her temper. She was beginning to feel rather peppery herself. After all, he had not even said that he was sorry.

But she and Tony were in the car with Gibbs, and she had a feeling that she would land in more trouble than Tony if she tried to get revenge on the way to the crime scene.

_I will find another way_, she promised herself. _But tonight, when I get home, I will make up for this. I will cook everything that I like - I will have a feast! That is a good idea!_

...

Ziva's glee was well-hidden, but fully enjoyed, as she saw Tony's confusion that everyone else had been invited to a dinner party at her house the other day. He was feeling left out and hungry - just like she had when he stole her lunch!

_Gives him right!_ she thought, self-righteously. _Now he will understand and apologize!_

But no apology was forthcoming.

Tony looked confused and a little hurt - not apologetic or repentant. Ziva narrowed her eyes. Apparently getting revenge - and an apology - was going to take more work than cooking a multi-course dinner for the entire team except for Tony.

And suddenly, she had just the right idea.

...

"Good morning, Tony!" Ziva called with a forced sweetness.

"Hey, Ziva," he replied, immediately focused on the container in her hand. "Whatcha got there?"

"This is for you," she offered, holding out the container. "I realized that you might want to try my cooking since you did not come to the party the other night."

"That was since you didn't invite me," Tony griped.

Ziva ignored the complaints.

"Go ahead - try this," she said, handing him a plastic fork.

Tony popped open the lid. "Chicken and peppers - your favourite."

"Apparently yours as well," Ziva said dryly.

Tony sniffed. "Mhmm! Smells delicious!" He stabbed a piece of the chicken and took a big bite.

"This is goo... yikes!" he shouted, running to his trash can and spitting out the chicken. He was panting, grabbing for his water bottle. "That is HOT!"

"I _know_!" Ziva announced triumphantly.

Tony choked on his water, looking at her with disbelief. Some water dribbled out of the corner of his mouth as his jaw went slack. He gulped.

"You ... you knew?!"

"Ha ha!" Ziva cackled, going to her desk. "Next time, leave my chicken and peppers alone!"

"You spiced that with ... what?"

"Jalapenos. Many, many jalapenos and chile peppers."

"Good one," Tim congratulated Ziva, catching on to the successful retribution from his seat across the squad room. Ziva beamed.

"Thank you, McGee!"

"Ziva!"

At the sound of Gibbs' voice, Ziva suddenly remembered the warning to leave Tony alone. She tensed, expecting a head slap in her direction. She was surprised by the hand on her shoulder instead. A small pat, then a low, "Good for you. Maybe he'll stop stealing food now."

And then Gibbs was off to his desk, calling out details about the next case. Tim was grabbing his gear and heading for the car. Tony and Ziva remained in their positions, eyeing each other warily. Suddenly, Tony broke into a grin.

"I've got the point, David. You've got a peppery temper there, don't ya? I'll try to not eat your chicken and peppers anymore, okay?"

Ziva smiled, surprised at the kind offer.

"That would be nice, Tony," she said, turning to her desk to grab her bag before chasing after Gibbs and Tim.

"I'm not making any promises about burgers, fries, soda, salads, tacos, anything that smells good or might be edible ... but I'll leave your chicken and peppers alone!"

"Thank you, Tony."

"... This week!"

"TONY!"

...

**I hope that you enjoyed! Please consider leaving a comment. :) **


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